grout



(No Modem G. GRIOUT.

ARTIFICIAL TOOTH.

No. 333,216. PatentedDec. '29, 1885.

UNITED 'A vSTATESr AVI/SJFENT @Iriono CHARLES P. eRoUr, `on New YORK, N. Y.

ARTIFICIAL TOOTH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 333,216, dated December 29, 1885. y

A)1plicaton filed May 4, 1885. Serial No. 164,401. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern: y

Be it known that I, CHARLES P. GRoUT, of the city and county of New York, in the State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Artificial Dentistry, of which the following-is a specification. l y My invention relates to that class of artiicial dentistry which involves trimming oft' or shaping the tooth roots or stumps and the application thereto of artificial tooth-crowns, each consisting of a band portion :fitting the trimmed exterior of a tooth or stump, and a closed top which forms the occluding surface.

In some cases artificial crowns ofthe kind above described have porcelain faces tted to them, so as to simulate the natural teeth; but where applied to back teeth they usually have no such porcelain faces.

One object of' the invention is to construct 'the artificial caps or tooth-crowns so that they may be more readily removed from the roots yor stumps, if desired for any purpose, than has been possible heretofore. To this end I make the tooth-crown with an external dovetailed rib or projection, the band portion being divided 'lengthwise through such rib or projection, and a key or clamp applied to such rib 'or projection for holding the abutting ends of the band portion together. W'hen made in this way the band will spring apart slightly as soon as the key or clamp is withdrawn lengthwise from the rib or projection thereon, and the crown maythen be slipped off the root or stump much more readily than has been heretofore possible. y l l Tooth caps or crowns of the kind to which my invention relates are frequently partially held in place bya pin orscrew extending from 4the top of the crown downward into a hole or socket formed by the enlargement of the nerve cavity or otherwise in the root or stump. Heretofore these pins have sometimes been fixed in the top of the cap or crown, so as to form an integral part thereof. It has also been proposed to employ a hollow or tubular screw which has a flaring head, and may be inserted downward through the top of the toothcrownand firmly secured by its thread within the cavity in the tooth root or stump, 5o

the opening or passage through the screw being closed by a small screw-plug inserted into its outer end. This construction affords provision for reaching and treating the interior of the tooth root or stump by removing the `small screw--plug which is screwed into the outer end of the tubular pivot-screw. It has also been proposed to construct a cap which is adapted to fit over the end of the root or stump with a hollow pivot orproj ection which is received within a cavity or hole within the root or stump, and then securing an artificial tooth crown or denture upon the capped root or stump by means of a screw having a conical head which lits a seat in the artificial crown and a threaded portion which enters the hollow projection of the tooth-cap.

According to my invention I form in the top of the cap or crown ascrew-threaded hole, and I form the pin which is to enter the tooth root or stump with its upper portion slightly enlarged and threaded to t this hole, while its lower portion is of a size to enter the hole or socket in the tooth root or stump. I deem this construction and combination of the pin with a crown desirable, because by it I am enabled `to first place the cap or crown upon the root or stump, and to then inject into the or crown, by means of a small syringe and through `the hole in the top thereof, a Suthcient quantity of cement to very nearly jill the cap or'crown and the hole in the socketin the tooth, and I can then insert the pin downward into the hole or socket in the root or stump and screw the pin irmly into the cap or crown, which is threaded to receive in it the threaded head of the piu. In this way I place in the cap or crown the proper quantity of cement to ll all space therein not occupied by the root or stump, and the pin serves to very firmly connect the cap or crown to the root `or stump.

rIhe invention will be hereinafter described p more in detail, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a sectional elevation ofla tooth root or stump and a crown embodying my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 represents a perspective view, on the same scale as Fig.y 1,of the tube .which may be employed in making my improved crowns, and which embodies my in- IOO vention; and Fig. 3 is a transverse section of such a tube. Y j Y.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding-parts in all the figures.

5 In carrying out my invention I prefer to t the metallic tooth caps or crowns upon a metal fac-simile of the mouth and tooth-roots, such fac-simile being producedfas described in my application for Letters Patent, Serial' No.

ro 161,516, tiled April 7, 1885.

In Fig. l, A designates the tooth root or stump, D the alveolar process or jaw-bone, and 'E the gumtissue. The outer or exposed portion of the tooth root or stump down to or I5 near to the alveolar border a is trimmed oft' or cut to the desired shape, so that the cap or vcrown B will extend downward to or near to the alveolar border a. and below the gum E.

In the tooth root or stump A is formed a 2o hole or socket, a', which may be made by drilling out the nerve-cavity, and which is of proper size to receive a pin, b. The upper end of this pin is screw-threaded, as shown at b', and is slightly larger in diameter than the body of the pin, so that the body may be inserted easily through a screw-threaded hole, b2, in the top of the cap or crown B, and into which the screw-thread b of the pin may be tightly screwed.

Commonly the band portion of metallic caps or crowns of the kind described have consisted of a solid collar without any split orjoint; but according to my invention the band portion of the cap or crown B is divided lengthwise or split and its abutting edges secured together by a key or clamp, as I shall now describe.

In making caps or crowns according to my invention I employ tubes Bit, such as are 4o shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and which may be of various sizes to fit tooth roots or stumps of different sizes.

Upon the exterior of the tube Bc` is a longitudinal rib or projection, c, the opposite edges of which are V-shaped or dovetailed, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The tube is then split or sawed through this rib or projection, -as shown at ci", and the two edges are held together by a key or clamp, d, which ern- 5o braces the rib or projection c and forms in effect a solid tube.

The rib or projection c may be made by soldering a piece upon the surface of the tube having a smooth exterior; or the tube may 5 5 be drawn with this dovetail or rib upon it; or

the tube may be composed of sheet metal bent into shape and having its edges turned or doubled backward upon itself, so as to form a rib or projection with V-shaped outer 6o edges.

Tubes of this character may be made and sold by dealers in dental supplies, and the tubes may be sawed or split through the ribs or projections before they are sold to the dentist; or the ribs or projections may be left uncut and the dentist may make his caps or root A.

The making of the crowns with split or divided bands held together by keys or clamps, as described, greatly facilitates the removal of such crowns from the tooth-roots, if desired for any purpose, because when the key or clamp is withdrawn lengthwise from the rib or projection c the band will expand slightly, and may be then more readily Withdrawn from the tooth root or stump.

In applying crowns I prefer to first place the crown B upon the tooth root or stump A', as shown in Fig. l, and then, before the pin b is inserted, I inject into the crown, by means lof a syringe, a proper quantity of cement, o, to

fill all space inthe crown not occupied by the tooth root or stump. The pin b is then in serted downward into position in the hole a and'screwed tightly into the screw-threaded hole b2 provided for it in the top of the cap or crown.

It will be observedthat a cap or crown hav.- ing a split-band portion secured by a key or clamp, and a pin or screw, b, having an enlarged head, b, which is tted to a screwthreaded hole, b2, in the top of the cap or crownboth conduce to a ready removal of the cap or crown from the tooth root or stump. In some cases it maybe desirable that the pin or plug b should not be directly axial to the cap or crown, but should be inclined relatively thereto, in which cas@ the draft of the pin, in order to remove it, would be in a different direction from that of the cap or crown in order to remove the latter.

When the cap or crown and pin are cornv bined as shown and described, all that is necessary to remove the cap or crown is to vfirst take out the pin or screw b, and then to remove the key or clamp d and slip oi the cap or crown.

that I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A metallic tooth-crown having adivided or split-band portion, and a key or clamp applied thereto for holding the edges of the band together, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

2. A metallic tooth-crown having upon it a dovetailed rib or projection, c, and split or divided through such projection, and the dovetailed clamp or key slipped 'upon said projection for holding the edges of the band together, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

3. A tube for making the band portionsof tooth-crowns, having upon it a dovetailed rib.

or projection, c, and the sliding key or clamp the crown to enter a hole or socket in the d, fitting such projection, substantially as and tooth root or stump, substantially as and for for the purpose herein described. the purpose herein described.

4. The combination, with a metallic tooth- 5 crown having in its closed top asereW-thread CHAS P GROUT ed hole or socket, of a pin having a serew- Witnesses: threaded head, whereby it is bted in the Jnop C. H ALL, of e crown and extended downward within i K. HAiNEs.

It is hereby certified tha-t in Letters Patent No. 333,216, granted December 2U, 1885, upon the application of lmrles P. Grout, of New York, New York, for :1n improvement in Artificial Teeth, an error appears in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: In line 4G, page 2, the words Figs. 4 rind 5, should be stricken out and the Words Figs. .Qand 3 inserted instead; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same mfr-y conform to the record of the case' in the Patent Oce.

Signed, couutersigned, and sealed this 5th day of January, A. D. 1886.

[SEAL] H. L. MULDROW,

Acting Secretary of the Interior. Countersi gn ed:

R. B. VANCE,

.Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

